President John Dramani Mahama has affirmed the legal resolution of the Bawku chieftaincy conflict, crediting the mediation report by the Asantehene, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, as pivotal to the definitive outcome. “Otumfuo’s report stated basically what the position of the law was, and I swore to uphold the Constitution and the laws of the Republic of Ghana so I cannot be sentimental in terms of implementing the law,” he stated.
Speaking when members of the Upper East Regional House of Chiefs paid a courtesy call on him at the Jubilee House on Tuesday, February 10, 2026, President Mahama extended his gratitude to the Asantehene for shepherding the arduous mediation. “I want to thank Otumfuo again for the role that he played in mediating the conflict,” President Mahama said, acknowledging the King’s apt decision-making.
Affirming the report’s conclusion, the President declared that the gazetted authority of Bawku Naba Abugrago Azoka II must be upheld. “I cannot have any sentiments in the matter… The law is the law. So I have to do what I have to do to ensure peace in Bawku, which is what we have done.”
Legal position
Giving further details, the President said Otumfuo was appointed by President Akufo-Addo and in his handing over notes, “he mentioned it to me and so as his successor, I was duty bound to allow that mediation.”
He said the mediation process was meant to find a traditional resolution to the conflict “and the thinking was that we can get the parties to the conflict to find a way to accommodate one another.“
Unfortunately, he noted, that did not happen, and therefore, the mediator had no option but to revert to what the law says. “And so his report stated basically what the position of the law was. And everybody knows what the laws states that the truly gazetted chief of Bawku is Bawku Naba Abugrago Azoka.”
Casualties
President Mahama noted that the mediation path was treacherous revealing that 119 people lost their lives in sporadic violence.
Bawku fund
Following a period of “relative calm” from the resolution, President Mahama announced that a committee, chaired by the Finance Minister, will soon be inaugurated to begin disbursing the GH¢1 billion Bawku Restoration Fund.
Its mandate is to invest in infrastructure and income-generation initiatives to advance development in the six-district Bawku enclave. “Violence cannot solve a problem,” the President stated. “Let’s make peace work because it is the only way to bring progress to our people,” Mr Mahama said.
